tattoo

Asheville has many cultures and personalities. In other words, Biltmore Village folk do not act like River Arts District people. And folks from north Asheville do not act like folks from south Asheville. You can enter the suburb communities in any direction from downtown, and visit a different vibe and theme somewhat. On the eastside of west Asheville, another sub-community is getting established on their own. B&B Pharmacy welcomes as you enter. If you know the area, I-240 separates east west Asheville from west west Asheville. In addition to the walkability factor, this area has a lot to offer. I recently took a walk on this part of Haywood Rd with my daughter.

The West Asheville highway intersection.

The Mardis Building is home to King Daddy’s Chicken & Waffles, Second Gear, and Rhetorical Factory.

You can walk to several great shops in the area. The Rhetorical Factory features recycled clothing, and Second Gear sells outdoor gear for hiking, rafting, running, sports and more. Then you have Asheville BookWorks inside the Universal Motors Building, along with more shopping spots.

We stopped by Whist and found some great items including this “I Love Asheville” cup, and a book on human anatomy that is a must for mankind.

From custom glass and repair shops, to custom screenprinting at Image 420, and you can even get a tattoo at Hot Stuff! Of course there is the vintage Gas-Up store on this corner. Lots of development planned for this end of the community, which then connects to Asheville’s Sweet Slope featuring Short Street Cakes, Hole Doughnuts and The Hop Ice Creamery; before heading down to Clingman Ave and the River Arts District.

The Admiral serves delicious cuisine spot that everyone loves. Walk is also a great place to grab lunch and dinner. Battle Cat Coffeehouse is a funky and hipstery coffee shop on Haywood Rd. Tip: park your Benz a few blocks away and walk here.

Harvest Records on the eastside of west Asheville is music heaven!

Haywood Road is also bikable. And Carrier Park is right down the street!

Art, graffiti and creativity line the streets. When coming over to west Asheville, talk a walk on the eastside!

After assisting with and witnessing the incredible success of the 2012 event last year; G Social Media proposed an extremely comprehensive online package which included a new logo/brand, website and social media… the perfect online plan. The Asheville Tattoo Fest met, voted to make this happen and the work began. The perfect team was put in place. Gary teamed up with OX + CO, a premium graphic & web design company with offices in AVL and Colorado, to create the logo and online image. Then Zero Zen, an incredible website building firm in Asheville, was brought in to do the back-end web development. G Social Media did the full project management for ATF, AskAsheville and several other projects their group has successfully completed and are currently working on. The end result with a team like this? It speaks for itself.

The main photos used in the graphics on the Asheville Tattoo Fest website were taken by Olivia Marone Photography. In 2012 she worked closely with G Social Media as he was taking videos of the event, tweeting and sharing. Another photographer named Ryan C. Izon also took many photos and shared them online.

Artists and Fans of the “Art of Tattooing” will definitely love the new website which features Vendors, Artists and Sponsors online and year round.

The Tattoo Fest is going to be a 4 day event. The event begins on Thursday March 15th with an early set-up for Artists and Vendors from 4pm – 8pm at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel. Then at 8pm, we have H2Ocean throwing an Artist’s Lifetime Achievement Party. This is a VIP event, free to attending Artists and Piercers, but there are also a limited number of tickets are available to the public for $15 each.

Then we have Friday March 16, 2012: From 11am – Midnight, there will be Tattooing going on the Convention Floor. The Art Walk (Fri, Sat, Sun) is actually a 375 foot hallway filled with local Asheville Art from featured Artists. There will also be a custom car and motorcycle show in the hotel parking lot. And there will also be a Kids Zone for the children. Then from 5pm – 8pm, there will be an “Art Fusion” time where you will get to see Live Art from the attending Artists. 8pm is when it gets a little frisky as they have the Pin-Up Girl Contest presented by Pin-Ups for Pitbulls . At 9pm, there will be Live Entertainment on the main stage. At 10pm, there will be the “Tattoo of the day Contest”

Saturday March 17th will have Tattooing from 11am – Midnight. The custom car and motorcycle show will continue during this time as well as the Kids Zone. At 2pm, there will be a Seminar presented by Tattoo Archive on “The History of Tattooing in NC” and from 4pm to 8pm, there will be Tattoo Contests on the main stage. Also, from 5pm – 8pm, there will be a downtown Asheville Art Gallery and Bar Scavenger Hunt with prizes galore. At 8pm, there will be the Cut Throat Freak Show on the main stage Machine Building Seminar for Artists Only. At 9pm there will be live music on the main stage and also a free Seminar that is open to the public on Tattoo Artist Paul Rodgers. At 10pm, there is the “Tattoo of the day Contest” on the main stage and also the “Best Booth in Show Contest” on the floor. Then at 11pm, the Prick Magazine and Moog after party will be on the upper level and it will be kickin until 2 in the morning. Of course not everyone can fit up here, but they are working with some local venues that are offering live music and great specials for those with a ticket to the festival. Check your grab bag for more details.

On Sunday, March 18th, there will be Tattooing on the convention floor from 11am – 7pm. The custom car show, motorcycle show, and Kids Zone will be going on as well. At 2pm, there will be a Raffle of the Art Fusion pieces and also of a “Pocket Rocket” motorcycle. All proceeds will go to benefit the Art Space Charter School. At 3pm, there will be an Award for the best custom motorcycle and car in the show. At 5pm, there will be the “Tattoo of the day Contest” finale. The event ends at 7pm with an Artist’s Dinner at 8pm. The Sunday night after party will be at the Arcade Asheville with 1/2 price beer and liquor. Sounds like a party to me.